In addition to the familiar gobble of the male, wild turkeys produce a wide vocabulary of sounds, each communicating something exact to other turkeys in the area.
(Watch and listen to the accompanying video while reading this post to gain a fuller understanding of how to talk turkey.)
Gobbling is the territorial and mating call of the male, or tom, turkey. Although he might let loose with a gobble whenever the mood strikes him, he booms his declaration of dominance primarily in the spring, hoping to attract the attention of hens ready to mate while also challenging all other gobblers within earshot.
As dawn breaks over the forest, particularly in spring, gobblers will respond with their territorial challenges to a wide range of non-turkey noise, everything from the hooting of a great horned owl to the slamming of a car door.
The soft, reassuring yelps of the tree call is the chatter among a flock of turkeys roosting close to one another in a tree or group of close-set trees. Basically, they asking for some reassurance from other members of the flock and in turn providing some reassurance to the others. The tree call often increases in volume and frequency, as the birds prepare to fly down from their roost.
The birds shout their fly down cackle of eight to 10, sharp, irregularly spaced, notes as the fly down out of their roosting trees. They also often cackle when they fly up into the roost, when they fly across a stream or when they fly from one level on the mountain to another. It generally indicates that the birds are on the move, and usually on the wing.
Turkeys enjoy the company of one another and nowhere is that more evident than in the assembly call of an adult hen. The series of loud yelps is intended to pull the flock back together.
Hens also will produce a quick and erratic series of loud, abrupt, single-note calls to survey their immediate environment for other turkeys looking for companionship. There's an almost questioning tone to the calls, which are known as "cutting."
The cluck is generally a personal, lone turkey to lone turkey communication, intended to get the attention of the other bird. It consists of one to three short, staccato notes.
The cluck consists of one or more short, staccato notes. The plain cluck, many times, includes two or three single note clucks. It's generally used by one bird to get the attention of another. It's a good call to reassure an approaching gobbler that a hen is waiting for him.
A content turkey often purrs, which consists of several soft, rolling notes intended to reassure other members in the flock. Feeding birds often share some purring.
Turkeys at relative ease in the company of other turkeys often will issue a series of clucks and purrs, noting their contentment in their current situation.'
The keekee run, which sounds pretty much like its name with a yelp at the end, is the excited call of a turkey, often young turkeys, separated from the flock and trying to find their way back to the other birds.
The putt is a single note or several sharp notes in rapid succession, intended to display alarm and the potential for danger.
The yelp of the hen has been found to have a variety of meaning under a range of circumstances.